New Year, New Season! In our first 'Miked-up - Our Women Entrepreneurs' episode of Season 3, Alison Walker chats with Alison Grieve, Founder of G-Hold and Editor at Young Company Finance Scotland. Alison Grieve is a trailblazer in ergonomic design and a champion of Scottish innovation. Specialising in ‘The Science of Holding’, Alison first invented a retractable handhold, Safetray, for the foodservice industry in 2009 to prevent accidents involving toppling trays. She then expanded the product portfolio into mobile devices with the G-Hold range; patented, ergonomic holders tablets and phones, establishing manufacturing in Scotland and exporting over 200,000 units around the world. Tune in to hear how Alison combines creativity, practicality, and entrepreneurship to revolutionise both her own industry and those of her fellow founders. Learn about her journey, overcoming barriers to raising investment, dealing with the copycat market and lessons learned. 🎧 Listen at the following link or wherever you get your podcasts: https://lnkd.in/eHR4wcWQ Miked-up "Our Women Entrepreneurs" - features the start-up journeys of some of the incredible female founders putting Scotland on the map for business innovation, and is supported by Royal Bank of Scotland Business.
Scottish EDGE
Non-profit Organizations
Glasgow, Glasgow 9,188 followers
The UK's BIGGEST small business funding competition. Have you got the EDGE?
About us
A leading Dragon's Den Style competition for ambitious entrepreneurs providing finance & support to some of Scotland's most innovative and brightest new businesses.
- Website
-
http://www.scottishedge.com
External link for Scottish EDGE
- Industry
- Non-profit Organizations
- Company size
- 2-10 employees
- Headquarters
- Glasgow, Glasgow
- Type
- Nonprofit
- Founded
- 2013
Locations
-
Primary
RBS Kirkstane House
1st Floor, 139 St Vincent St
Glasgow, Glasgow G2 5JF, GB
Employees at Scottish EDGE
-
Sean McGrath
CEO - Entrepreneurial Scotland Foundation. Building belief & connection in Scotland.
-
Evelyn McDonald
CEO at Scottish EDGE, Board Member at Scottish Design Exchange, Assessor for Small Business Charter
-
Maria McKinney
Supporting Entrepreneurs to commercialise and grow.…
-
Alastair Davis OBE
Chief Executive at Social Investment Scotland
Updates
-
We've not quite wrapped up yet, but as the year draws to a close and the out-of-offices slowly start to switch on, we'd like to wish all of our alumni, partners, supporters and friends a very #HappyChristmas and good 'elf in 2025. Thanks for helping to make our 2024 so rewarding. From all of the EDGE Team - Evelyn McDonald, Kevin Walls, Andy Palmer, Maria McKinney, Myles Bax, Tracey Hogarth, Ken Whipp, Jack Proctor
-
Scottish EDGE reposted this
Celebrating 10 Years with Scottish EDGE We’re celebrating a decade with Scottish EDGE by sharing inspiring stories from businesses making a difference. Meet Whitebox Whitebox is a dental lab specialising in orthodontics, creating medical devices and cosmetic dental products. But they’re also on a mission to future-proof Scotland’s dental sector by acquiring small businesses, keeping skilled talent, and training the next generation. With support from Scottish EDGE, Whitebox has been able to grow and roll out this innovative approach. And thanks to Harper Macleod, they’ve handled acquisitions with fairness and confidence. As Whitebox’s founder says, “I sleep better knowing our legal affairs are in safe hands.” Stay tuned for more amazing stories as we celebrate this milestone!
-
Scottish EDGE reposted this
10 years ago today, I set up Scottish EDGE C.I.C. to run the EDGE competition. The competition had been created by an amazing team at Scottish Enterprise but following four rounds it was spun out to the private sector and I was employed to take over. Fast forward 10 years and Scottish EDGE has supported 663 businesses investing £28 million in grants and loans. So, what have I learned in 10 years of running EDGE? - Entrepreneurs are amazing and I will never tire of hearing their innovative ideas and plans for their businesses. I also get to see first-hand how many incredible highs and lows come with running a business and experience the vicarious joy of the wins and feel gutted about the losses. I’m proud that Scottish EDGE has put money into the early stage of businesses like Molke Ltd., Ooni, Beer52.com | B-Corp, Utopi, iGii, EnteroBiotix and Freedom One Life among many others and 235 of these businesses have signed the EDGE Pledge. - You need the right people around you. From the outset we received support and funding from The Hunter Foundation, Royal Bank of Scotland Business and The Scottish Government with Scottish Enterprise joining as a key sponsor from 2018. I’ve also been blessed with an outstanding board led by David Shearer and recently by Simon Hannah who have pushed us to improve, innovate and grow. We’ve also benefitted from superb relationships with Harper Macleod LLP, Johnston Carmichael Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers, James Hallam Limited and Inettek among others who ensured we created the solid foundations on which to grow. - You need a why and ours is clear. We want the businesses we work with to have a positive impact on their customers and the communities they work in. And we want them to create jobs in Scotland. You also need to identify what makes you unique and, in our case, it is timely and flexible funding, feedback to every applicant and the credibility an EDGE win brings. - We’re a small team but it’s a big job so thank goodness 100s of Scottish businesspeople have judged for us and the wonderful entrepreneurial support ecosystem organisations who work alongside us help us every step of the way. - It’s not easy to make a Social Enterprise self-sustainable. It took till year eight before we were able to cover our overhead costs, and it is an ongoing challenge. And despite bringing in £1.2 million in repayments every year to our revolving loan fund, we will always need to fundraise to support our winners, so we are grateful to all our funders including Zero Waste Scotland, People's Postcode Lottery, Creative UK and STV Group plc in addition to our founding funders who invest in the small businesses we support. - But above all you need a brilliant team and the EDGE Team is outstanding and always has been. I’ve been blessed with amazing colleagues over the years and wouldn’t bench a single one! So, after 10 years do I still want to work at Scottish EDGE? You can bet your life I do.
-
The wait is over – #RegionalEDGE has officially launched - in partnership with The Scottish Government, Elevator, GrowBiz Scotland - rural enterprise support, Opportunity North East Limited, and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. Are you a business in Dundee & Angus, Perth & Kinross, North East, or the Highlands and Islands, either pre-trading or within your first five years? This is your moment! Apply to Regional EDGE before 20th January for the chance to secure between £10k to £50k in business funding. Join our workshop on Monday 16th December to find out more about the competition and get advice on everything from meeting the assessment criteria to crafting a great application. Learn more, sign up for the workshop, and apply at: scottishedge.com/regional
-
Well, that's #EDGE24 done and dusted, and what a night we had celebrating the winners! Our friends, partners and the latest editions to the EDGE Alumni network joined us on Wednesday evening (4th Dec) as we awarded a £1.5m prize pot to 37 deserving businesses. EDGE Chair Simon Hannah welcomed our audience by outlining the drivers for EDGE's growth and expansion of support over the next five years, motivated by the 'uniques' that justify EDGE's position in the entrepreneurial support space. Tom Arthur, Minister for Investment and Employment kindly joined us to address our guests and speak of The Scottish Government's long-standing relationship with EDGE, which supports the Government's efforts to champion Scottish entrepreneurs and businesses. Past EDGE winner Lara Messer of Bare Bones Chocolate shared some insights about growing the brand that Rick Stein said was the 'Best Chocolate he's ever tasted, and our Alumni Keynote Jamie Burns entertained us with a funny and inspiring talk on the start-up journey of Ailsa Reliability Solutions Ltd., which also became the first Alumni business to support a category award in EDGE. Darren Pirie spoke on behalf of one of our founding funders, gracious hosts for the evening, and supporter of the Scale EDGE Award, Royal Bank of Scotland Business, relaying his ongoing personal gratitude for being tasked to lead the Bank's Accelerator Team, on a mission to help businesses succeed with full wraparound support. Leah Pape of Young EDGE category supporter Scottish Enterprise was on hand to award those starting out on their promising entrepreneurial journeys, and Live Finals judge Rachel Jones helped award our ambitious pre-traders in the Wild Card category. Representatives from our Special Award supporters - Ana Gallardo (The Scottish Government), Susannah Downs (STV Group plc,) Iain Gulland (Zero Waste Scotland), Ryan Mackie (Postcode Lottery Group), and Creative UK - delivered their congratulations to their initiative/sector-specific winners. And we even had Santa and his Elf pop by to deliver our trophies! But it wouldn't have been a worthy celebration, or competition round, without the incredible support of the many individuals and organisations that come together to make EDGE the success that it is. Thanks to our brilliant funders, partners, supporters and friends for making the event, and the entire round, so memorable. We'll see you in 2025 for #EDGE25! Follow the link for a full list of winners - https://lnkd.in/eDkiH4q8 Founding Partners: Royal Bank of Scotland Business | The Hunter Foundation | The Scottish Government | Scottish Enterprise Special Award Partners: Creative UK | STV Group plc | People's Postcode Lottery | Zero Waste Europe Supporting Partners: James Hallam Limited | Harper Macleod LLP | Johnston Carmichael Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers | Eden Scott | Totalize Media | Scintilla | e-Residency
-
+12
-
1 keynote, 2 hosts, 8 Judges, 24 finalists, and 350+ attendees came together yesterday to make EDGE’s first dual-pitching final an incredible day to remember! Our hosts Matthew Quinn and Greg Summers kept our audience engaged and entertained with impressive levels of synchronicity from separate hosting stages, while our expert judging panels took on the not insignificant task of assessing two ridiculously impressive groups of finalists. Our willing and exceptionally able panels were made up of: Shane Corstorphine, Sif Rai, James Holian, Rachel Jones, Gillian MacAulay, David Tuck, Alex Lu, and Andrew McLauchlan Founder of itison, Oli Norman took part in a fascinating and funny conversation with EDGE CEO Evelyn McDonald in which he shared the highs, lows and everything in between of running a household named brand with a company culture that is unmatched in the industry. Oli also joined our ‘Partner Pitch’ panel along side business experts Alison Grieve, Cait Murray-Green, and Gavin Bell as EDGE supporting partner Eden Scott braved the big stage to masterfully navigate a no punches pulled judge Q&A session. Topped-off with the specialist guidance and support provided by our partner organisations in the Exhibitor atrium and workshop rooms, it really was day unlike any other EDGE final to date. Thanks to our gracious hosts Royal Bank of Scotland Business for the magnificent hospitality, and to all who made it possible, especially our partner organisations named below. Good luck to all who pitched, you were fantastic! We’ll announce the # EDGE24 winners at the awards ceremony next week. Founding Partners: Royal Bank of Scotland Business | The Hunter Foundation | The Scottish Government | Scottish Enterprise Special Award Partners: Creative UK | STV | People's Postcode Lottery | Zero Waste Scotland Supporting Partners: James Hallam Limited | Harper Macleod LLP | Johnston Carmichael Chartered Accountants and Business Advisers | Eden Scott | Totalize Media | Scintilla | e-Residency
-
+1
-
BIG NEWS - Regional EDGE! We're thrilled to announce that on 9th December, thanks to £400,000 backing by The Scottish Government and in collaboration with four regional partners, #RegionalEDGE will launch - inviting innovative, high-growth potential start-ups from across Perth and Kinross, Dundee and Angus, North East, and the Highlands and Islands to apply for up to £50,000 in funding awards. This new pilot is the latest initiative in the long-standing relationship between the Scottish Government and Scottish EDGE. The funds will be allocated via a traditional Scottish EDGE process delivered by region-specific delivery partners, namely – Opportunity North East Limited, Elevator (Dundee and Angus), GrowBiz Scotland - rural enterprise support (Perth and Kinross), and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. Each region will deliver its own ‘finals’, all individually resulting in five winners. Awards in each region will consist of one £50,000 top award, two £15,000, and two £10,000 awards. More info 👉 https://lnkd.in/eddmZxkd
-
Fresh out of their moulds and awaiting their new owners! Join us on Thursday to watch our Finalists compete for the chance to take home an #EDGE24 trophy (and up to £100k, of course). Grab a ticket and look forward to: 🗣️ Pitching - 24 Finalists, split across two pitching rooms, pitch to a collective panel of eight business heavy-weights 💡 Workshops - Expert business advice from industry experts 🤝 Networking and Exhibitors - Join fellow delegates from all areas of industry in the exhibitor atrium 🧐 Speaker - Hear the personal journey and lessons learned from itison founder Oli Norman 🥪 Food and Drink - Lunch, breaks, and tea & coffee all included in the ticket booking Get your ticket at: scottishedge.com/edge24